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March 2012
Democracy Imperiled in the Maldives
Stephen Zunes: Well before the launch of the Arab Spring, the people of the Maldives, a Muslim nation located on a tropical archipelago in the Indian Ocean, were engaged in widespread nonviolent resistance against the 30-year reign of the corrupt and autocratic president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. The growing civil insurrection forced the dictator to finally allow for free elections in October 2008, which he lost. This triumph for democracy is now threatened as a result of a coup last month led by allies of the former dictator and hardline Islamists. Read More
Turmoil in Balochistan and the debacle of East Pakistan
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: It is said that history repeats itself. Perhaps it is true in the ongoing strife in Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan. The current wave of socio-economic and political turmoil in Balochistan resembles with the social and political unrest that had led to the separation of East Pakistan and establishment of Bangladesh in December 1971. Read More
Ethnic cleansing in Balochistan
By Saleem Ahmed: Pakistan is a mismanaged third-world country. Mismanaged third-world countries are intrinsically unjust. Pakistan has been an equally bad experience for all ethnicities living in that country: Punjabi, Sindhi, Saraiki, Pashtun, Hazara, Baloch, Muhajir, and others. If Baloch are unhappy with the government of Pakistan they should first find out who is happy with the government. Read More
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